It’s funny what you remember consuming as a kid. Aside from my mom’s cooking, I recall jumping at the chance to chow down on a Celeste® suprema pizza or slurp up a can of Campbell’s® Chunky® soup.
When it came to the latter, I always reached for chicken mushroom chowder. While the product has been discontinued (☹), this creamy chicken and mushroom soup is a fine replacement. The mélange is chock-full of meat and vegetables and, just like Campbell’s® Chunky® soup, eats like a meal.
Creamy chicken and mushroom soup is hearty but not heavy, thanks to the addition of whole milk versus heavy cream. If you’re short on time, skip the first two steps and use leftover or store-bought roast chicken. And while the spicy croutons are optional, I highly recommend them.
Recipe adapted from Little Broken.
- 1½ pounds skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 leek (white and light green parts only), halved lengthwise, thinly sliced and rinsed
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2½ cups whole milk
- ⅓ cup ditalini or other short pasta
- spicy croutons (for serving, optional, see notes)
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place chicken on a rimmed baking sheet, skin side up, and brush with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast until cooked through, 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Discard the skin and bones and shred chicken into bite-sized pieces. Reserve any fat and accumulated juices.
- In a large pot, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, reserved fat and butter over medium heat. Add onion, leek, celery and carrots and season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add mushrooms, garlic, bay leaves, oregano and Italian seasoning and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and juices evaporate, 8-10 minutes.
- Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Add chicken broth and milk. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low.
- Add shredded chicken and any accumulated juices and ditalini and cook until pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with spicy croutons, if using.
